How many GB is RDR2 on Steam Deck?

As an avid Steam Deck user and old west gaming enthusiast, one of my most anticipated tests was seeing how the portable powerhouse held up running the legendary Red Dead Redemption 2. As expected, Rockstar‘s epic open world Western masterpiece requires some serious storage space. But with the right specs and settings tweaks, it runs incredibly well! Let‘s dive into the details fellow gamers.

Saddle Up That Storage Space – RDR2 Clocks in at 150GB

Straight from the horse‘s mouth on Steam, you‘ll need a whopping 150GB free to install Red Dead Redemption 2 on Steam Deck. We‘re used to big game sizes in 2024, but why so huge for this 2018 title? The answer is the incredibly detailed world and assets Rockstar crammed in. With so many interactive systems, sprawling regions to explore, top-notch motion captured animations, and a massive script, the gbs rack up quick.

To put it in perspective, here‘s how RDR2 compares storage-wise to other big open world titles on Steam Deck:

With recent patches and updates, plus added content, don‘t expect RDR2 or GTA Vfile sizes slimming down either. Take it from me, invest in a solid Micro SD card! I‘m running the stellar 1TB SanDisk Extreme which has room for RDR2 and a dozen more epic adventures.

This Thoroughbred Runs Surprisingly Well on Steam Deck

Now, RDR2‘s epic scope and hyper-realistic graphics push even the brawniest gaming PCs to their limits. So how the heck can the Steam Deck muscle through this Western monster in our hands? Great optimization question! In my experience testing RDR2 on Deck, I‘m delighted to report it holds up wonderfully:

• A consistent 30 FPS at native res 1600×720 on medium settings
• Minimal slowdown in busy towns like Saint Denis
• Stable even in demanding areas like the sprawling Heartlands
• Richly detailed textures and objects retained
• Impressively fast loading from World Map and checkpoints

Digging into why I think Red Dead sings on Steam Deck vs beefy desktop rigs, it comes down to:

More Taxing on GPU than CPU

RDR2 asks a lot more graphics-wise than processor-wise. The Zen 2, quad-core CPU in Steam Deck keeps up fine. Meanwhile, the custom RDNA 2 GPU (comparable to a PS4/Xbox One) delivers those rich visuals efficiently optimized for the 720p screen. If your saddle‘s not too dusty, you may get smoother gameplay dialing down some settings! I run a mix of medium and high.

Console-Like Design

Steam Deck‘s integrated design – with hardware and software made for each other from the saddle up – pays off here too. More like a fixed-spec console than a swappable gaming PC. Valve hand-tuned the thing meticulously so no hitches giddy up! Plus developer Rockstar already optimized RDR2 for consoles. Happy trails!

Pro Tips to Prevent Trail Snags

While RDR2 runs surprisingly smoothly out the stable, a few tweaks kept my Steam pony at peak condition over long journeys:

Use Latest Stable Proton GE

Proton handles translating Windows games to Linux flawlessly most times. But some extra stability nursing helped with Rockstar‘s epic. Grab the latest Proton GE custom build by the legendary modder GloriousEggroll if you hit snags. Solved crashes for me!

Start in Offline Mode

Since RDR2 requires a Rockstar Social Club login, connection hiccups occasionally interrupt our journey. Launch in offline mode first time round to avoid this. You can play fine offline then anyway!

Set CPU Governor to Performance

In SteamOS, bump the CPU power mode higher so no resources are left sitting in the stable. I run the performance governor and haven‘t had hitches yet even galloping hard.

Clean Install Latest GPU Drivers

I know, updating graphics drivers sounds boring. But the latest Mesa drivers Valve ships can really let your Steam horse maximize its stride. Just fully uninstall old ones first for clean run.

Many Miles Still to Travel Partners

While RDR2 runs great now, I‘m excited to see how future SteamOS updates, driver tweaks, and proton builds let me push settings and performance even further. And when GPU unavailable errors ride into town, I simply saddle up stable to play offline. True gamers endure a little hardship for experiences like this!

With storage squared away and settings tuned, my Steam cowboy can finally wander free. Thanks for joining this victory lap round the paddock amigos. Now to play another 150 hours helping John get revenge for his pals. Happy trails cowpokes!